This Honey Of A Man Saved A Swarm Of Bees With His Bare Hands

When faced with a swarm of bees, many people would run away. Or, set fire to anything and everything near the bees — and then run away. But not everyone is Nima Alizadeh.

Alizadeh, a 23-year-old Torontonian, saw a post on Bunz Trading Zone — a local Facebook group — seeking help for some wayward bees.

The post, written by Ryan Jordan, said there was about a hundred bees on a fire hydrant, apparently without a queen.Bunz has more than 50,000 members who list items for trade but there’s also the occasional post seeking help for odd tasks — like moving bees.“He asked if anyone had any knowhow or knew something about bees — I didn’t,” Alizadeh told BuzzFeed Canada. But he didn’t let that stop him.

Another Bunz user had suggested transporting the bees in a cardboard box, so Alizadeh showed up up with a small one in tow. “I laid the box next to it and just started barehand shoveling a few bees at a time into the box,” he said.

To repeat: THIS MAN PICKED UP HANDFULS OF BEES WITH HIS HAND AND CASUALLY PUT THEM IN A BOX.“I just dove right in. I was never really afraid of getting stung,” he said. “They’re just crawling on you, buzzing. They’re really docile.”The going got easier after a security guard lent Alizadeh a pair of leather gloves. An hour or so later, they were all in the box.

He took the box home and carefully strapped it into his car before bringing the bees to another Bunz user in the west end who knows a beekeeper. As he drove away, he thought the journey was done — then he heard buzzing.

“I look in the cupholder and there’s still one bee left,” he said.

So Alizadeh — who by this point is basically a certified bee whisperer — coaxed the bee onto his finger and drove back with it perched there to add it to the box.

So why did he do it? Just an admirable sense of altruism and community spirit.

“I was compelled because Bunz is just that sort of community. If you’re there, and you can help, you kind of have the obligation to help.”